The Lenthall Houses: A Moving Case of Historic Preservation

The Lenthall houses at their original location at 612-614 19th Street, NW.

The twin Lenthall town houses, now located at 606-10 21st Street NW, once stood at 612-14 19th Street.  They were constructed around 1800 and named after their builder, John Lenthall.  Born in England in 1762, Lenthall was a son of Sir William Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons, and came to Washington, D.C. in 1793.  A skilled architect, Lenthall served as architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe’s principal assistant in the construction of the Capitol building, overseeing the day-to-day operations at the Capitol during Latrobe's frequent absences from the city. In 1808, he was killed when removed props holding up the vaulted ceiling in the Old Supreme Court Chamber was crushed to death when the ceiling collapsed.

The house currently located at 610 21st Street stayed in the Lenthall family until 1902.  The other house at 606 21st Street was only briefly in the hands of the Lenthall family, as is was deeded to a William Francis in 1808, who flipped the property the next day.  

John Lenthall Waggaman

 

 Throughout their history, the Lenthall houses have been home to artists and patrons of the arts.  After the death of John Lenthall’s widow Jane in 1853, the house at 610 21st Street passed to her unmarried daughter and artist, Mary King Lenthall, who stayed in the house until her death in 1892. The house then passed to her brother’s grandson, John Lenthall Waggaman, real estate broker, art collector and patron, who kept the house until 1902.

610 21st Street was then acquired by Washington artist and founder of the Arts Club, Bertha Noyes.  The Arts Club began meeting in the house in 1916, and Noyes eventually headed the committee that chose the early 19th-century mansion and former home of President James Monroe at 2017 I Street, NW as its new home.  Bertha Noyes died in her home in 1966 at the age of 90 leaving it to the George Washington University, which then turned it into a rental property.  

The house at 606 21st Street eventually became the home of May Allen who was well known in the Washington arts circle, a member of the Arts Club herself, and contributor to collections in the Corcoran Art Gallery and Library of Congress.  The house later became home to Hugh H. Obear and his wife Mildred.  Obear was a prominent Washington lawyer and served as president of the DC Bar Association.  

Beginning in the 1960s, The George Washington University (GWU) began expanding and filling the West End with campus buildings and income-producing properties. Their development model was to sell land with the option to buy it back after 30 years.  In 1962, Obear fought a zoning change to allow for the construction of a 12-story, 15-million dollar office building at 1800 G Street, arguing that it would mean greater commercialization of the neighborhood.  He lost the battle and in 1966 the building was erected.  

In 1977, GWU planned to sell off the land around the Obear property on 19th Street to the World Bank to construct an office annex, which was to be one block long and 130 feet high, with only a brick “garden wall” between the 12-story building and the Obear property.  Originally, Mrs. Obear had planned on leaving the house to the university, but when she learned of the plan, she cut GW out of her will.  In 1978, she reluctantly sold it to GWU and moved to an apartment.

Now in possession of both houses, GWU determined that they interfered with development plans for the block and considered various alternatives to demolishing them.  The  university decided to relocate them  to  a  site  on  21st  Street between F and G Streets that could  be  made  available  by razing an existing, but not as old, row of townhouses there. Former Architect and Senior Vice President of Colonial Williamsburg, A.  Edwin Kendrew, advised on the preservation of the houses. After considering options for their adaptive reuse, it was decided that they should remain single-family residences, but updated with modern plumbing, heating, and electrical systems. 

A detailed inspection of the houses found that their rear wings were not part of the original construction and were added later in order to move the original kitchens out of the basements.  The rear wings were removed before the relocation of the buildings.  Archaeological excavations in the yards of both houses conducted by GWU’s Anthropology Department uncovered original walks, outbuildings, underground drains and a cistern.

The buildings were structurally quite fragile, with sagging beams and thin masonry walls, adding to the challenge of successfully moving them and not destroying them in the process.  The lack  of  adjacent  houses, which usually  flanked  and  braced  buildings  of  this  kind,  had  required various  reinforcement  and  protective measures  over  the  years, which included applying extensive coats of plaster on  the exterior exposed side walls  at  an  early  date to  waterproof  and  add  support  to the thin masonry. The buildings were ultimately shored up on their sides and lifted up from their foundation on I-beams, and over the course of four hours on August 5, 1978, were moved to their new location at 606-10 21st Street.  

 The Lenthall houses lifted from their original foundation and Rrady for the move.  (HABS, Library of Congress.

Lenthall houses on the move to their new location on 21st Street. HABS, Library of Congress

The Lenthall Houses today at their new location at 606-610 21st Street. Wikimedia/AgnosticPreachersKid)

Today, the Lenthall houses remain single-family residences and GWU makes them available to visiting faculty and writers through subsidized rental agreements.  The houses were listed as DC Landmarks in 1964 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972

This article was originally published in The InTowner Newspaper, Nov. 2012.  Copyright The Intowner Newspaper and Stephen A. Hansen.  All Rights Reserved.